ORION GRASSROOTS NETWORK TO HOST CONFERENCE

The Orion Grassroots Network is hosting a meeting called the Colorado River Convergence during the last weekend of September at the Canyonlands Field Institute in Moab, Utah. The meeting is an opportunity to celebrate and strengthen the work of grassroots activists in the American Southwest, which faces complex, interrelated environmental and social problems.

The organizers note that grassroots activists are at a collective crossroads. Many are frustrated with the direction of the country, and frustrated by the loss in recent years of hard-won protections. The organizers’ plan is that the Colorado River Convergence will be a forum for staking out where we have come, and where we go from here. Orion writers Alison Hawthorne Deming and Gary Paul Nabhan will lead discussions on making connections, rethinking strategies for success, and imagining the future.

The weekend meeting runs from Friday, Sept 29, to noon on Sunday. Staff and board members from each Grassroots Network organization are encouraged to attend. The cost for the whole weekend is $160 per person, including meals and rustic lodging at the Canyonlands Field Institute. Already committed to attend are leaders from Grassroots Network groups Great Old Broads for Wilderness (CO), Sky Island Alliance (AZ), Living Rivers (UT), and the Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (TX). Reservations should be made by May 15. For further information, contact Erik Hoffer at (888) 909-6568 or grassroots@orionsociety.org.